午夜福利1000集合

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Oprah Winfrey鈥檚听TV special Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution has been streamed more than 4 million times since it aired in March 2024. In it, the talk show host described Ozempic as being 鈥渢he relief and support and freedom鈥� that some people have been waiting for their whole lives.

This might have been easy for a billionaire like Winfrey to say. Weight-loss drugs can be game-changing for people who are obese, but getting hold of them is far from a level playing field, with knock-on effects for the obesity levels of the rich versus the poor. But this inequality is just one of many societal issues on the horizon. Ultra-slim beauty norms may be re-emerging, and some analysts predict changes to our collective appetite for junk food. In the era of Wegovy, we could also see an increase in the stigma around obesity that exists in some countries.

In the UK, only those with a body mass index of more than 35 (within the obesity range) and at least one weight-related health complication are generally eligible to receive Wegovy or Mounjaro on the National 午夜福利1000集合 Service (see 鈥淗ow they work鈥�, below). In the US, the use of these drugs for weight loss often isn鈥檛 covered by insurers, which means many people are paying out of pocket. With costs of and between 拢150 and 拢200 a month in the UK, 鈥渂etter-off people will have access and poor people won鈥檛,鈥� says at University College Cork, Ireland.

Inequality

Given the strong link that already exists between lower incomes and a higher risk of obesity, this inequality of access to GLP-1 drugs 鈥渨ill just cement the association between being fat and being poor鈥�, she says.

Others concur. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 make these medications available to people who can鈥檛 afford to buy them privately, then we will definitely be widening the stigma and the societal divide that we see in obesity already,鈥� says at Imperial College 午夜福利1000集合care NHS Trust in London.

What鈥檚 more, a lack of understanding around these access issues could mean people with obesity are judged for not taking these drugs. 鈥淭here might be an attitude of, 鈥榃hy aren鈥檛 you on Ozempic?'鈥� says at University College London. 鈥淭hat, in itself, becomes a judgement in the way that some people think, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 you just stop eating so much?'鈥�

Even ignoring the costs, the drugs aren鈥檛 for everyone. Like all medications, they have side effects and , the average reached in trials for semaglutide. And some people may simply not want to take them. In response to Oprah鈥檚 Ozempic special, and , both at the University of Michigan, argued in the journal Critical Studies in Media Communication that 鈥渧iewers did not hear from someone who was fat and happy. We do exist.鈥�

Obesity aside, a 鈥渃ultural desire for thinness鈥� will drive demand for these drugs, says at the University of Galway, Ireland. In societies where being slim is prized, this may prompt people without obesity to take drugs like Ozempic, which could take them from what is considered a healthy weight to being underweight. There are already signs of a return to a more waif-like aesthetic, judging by some recent appearances on the red carpet. And if the general weight of the population goes down too, 鈥渟o may the norms, whether that is [what is] attractive or normal or something you should strive for,鈥� says at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Obesity

More optimistically, some researchers hope that these medications may support obesity being seen as a medical condition, rather than a moral failing. 鈥淭hese drugs will help people to understand that obesity is a biological, physiological, metabolic problem, rather than a psychological problem or a motivational problem,鈥� says Finucane.

But these drugs can only do so much. Losing 15 per cent of body weight may take someone from having severe obesity to milder obesity. 鈥淭he social stigma of that probably is still quite high, right?鈥� says Steptoe. is 鈥減retty entrenched in our society鈥�, he says. 鈥淭hat would take quite a lot of shifting. I wouldn鈥檛 hold my breath.鈥�

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However, GLP-1 drugs may change the landscape of obesity in a rather different way. Reports increasingly suggest they reduce 鈥渇ood noise鈥�, dialling down obsessive thoughts about eating. Ozempic 鈥渟eems to take away that extra voice that鈥檚 always telling you you鈥檙e hungry鈥�, says Steele. For instance, one trial found that people taking semaglutide not only , but had a reduced preference for fatty, energy-dense foods compared with participants taking a placebo. Another study found that US households with at least one person taking GLP-1 drugs and spent 9 per cent less at fast-food chains and coffee shops.

Such findings prompted strategists at Barclays bank to . And some researchers are optimistic that junk food outlets may start shutting their doors thanks to Ozempic, which could go some way to preventing obesity for the general population. 鈥淵our genes set the table for obesity and the environment serves it up,鈥� says at Conscien午夜福利1000集合, an obesity advocacy group in Pennsylvania.

鈥淭his intervention has the power to influence the food environment,鈥� says Scholtz. And then? 鈥淥ur children and the generations that come after us have a better chance of not developing obesity in the first place,鈥� she says.